"OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals (OGXI) recently released their fourth quarter and year end 2010 financial results; during the conference call they discussed updates in their development programs and provided an outlook for 2011," notes biotech specialist John McCamant.

The editor of the Medical Technology Stock Letter continues, "The company reported a Q4 2010 net loss of $2.8 million or ($0.26) per share compared to Q4 2009 net profit of $3.9 million or $0.70 per share.

"OGXI finished the year in a solid position financially with $85.6 million in cash. The company expects to end 2011 with $50-$54 million on the balance sheet and use $31-$35 million in operating cash. They appear to have enough cash to fund operations into 2014.

Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA - option chain) shares are rising after the company announced it has signed an agreement with Proctor & Gamble (PG) to create a partnership that will combine both companies' over-the-counter medicine divisions. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on TEVA.

TEVA opened Thursday morning at $50.13. In morning trading, the stock hit a low of $49.86 and a high of $50.59. As of 12:20, TEVA was trading at $50.58 up $1.46 (3.0%). The chart for TEVA looks bullish and S&P gives TEVA a positive 4 stars (out of 5) buy ranking.

U.S. stock futures are flat Tuesday morning after China's central bank raised interest rates. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 5 points to 12,113.00, and S&P 500 futures dropped 0.20 point to 1,315.60. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.50 point to 2,345.50.

U.S. stocks closed higher Monday, with the Dow gaining 0.57% to end the day at 12,162.

The NFIB index of small business optimism for January is due at 7:30 a.m. ET.

Could a stock that you made 1,100% on still have room to run? Yes, it is possible. In particular if it had a near death experience as a penny stock for a while.

That is the case with Newcastle Investments (NCT), the CMBS lender and real estate investment company that reached a recent high of $7.10 and has settled back down, most recently hovering between $6.70 to $7.00. It closed Thursday December 23 at $6.71.

To paraphrase Mark Twain "The reports of our death are greatly exaggerated". The world economy has been in shambles for a few years now, and our nation has much work ahead of it. 2010 was an improvement over 2009 and I believe 2011 will show further improvement.

There are lots of ideas running through my mind as I consider where the economy might be heading in 2011. What opportunities lay in front of us waiting to be picked up or passed over? Just five trading days left, and market activity will slow down except among fund managers making adjustments for tax purposes or window dressing. You should examine your tax situation, too.

Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA - option chain) shares are rising today after the company announced this morning that a Phase 3 study of its multiple sclerosis drug laquinimod met its primary endpoint. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on TEVA.

TEVA opened this morning at $52.48. So far today the stock has hit a low of $51.96 and a high of $52.73. As of 11:55, TEVA is trading at $52.27 up $3.00 (6.1%). The chart for TEVA looks bullish and S&P gives TEVA a positive 4 STARS (out of 5) buy ranking

It's that time of year when I start thinking about my 2011 stock picks, and enough folks have been nudging me that I might as well get on with it. The list will not be finalized until the end of the month. During the interim time I will take readers through a number of possibilities, explaining the rational for my suggestions along the way and adding and subtracting until I get the list down to ten.

Today I will start by reviewing opportunities discussed in another post and determine which of these stocks might provide the best value. The list was originally cast as a globally diversified, large cap, dividend paying and relatively stable group of companies that would likely weather any storm. See: Chasing Value: Bonds, Gold, Stocks and Capital Flight

It certainly is presumptuous, perhaps even self serving of me to assume the market is going higher in the face of so much uncertainty.

The reason I hold this belief is that so much money is sitting on the sidelines and much of it is getting restless. It's one thing for those on a fixed income to suffer because the Federal Reserve is keeping interest rates so low, but it is quite another thing to expect $2 trillion dollars of corporate cash to want to live like senior citizens. That cash is a bigger drag on earnings with each passing day.

It will be a busy week. Republicans are poised to gain control of the House of Representatives and gain governorships in Tuesday's mid-term elections. Also, the Federal Reserve is expected to announce another round of quantitative easing Wednesday, following the FOMC meeting. Major retailers are scheduled to report October same-store sales Thursday, while the October unemployment rate, announced on Friday, is expected to remain at 9.6%.

Toyota's (TM) fiscal second-quarter results will be one of the highlights on the earnings front this week. After three periods of way underestimating Toyota's earnings, have the analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters got it right this time? The stock sure could use a boost. Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA) is in a similar situation; i.e., high expectations for this week's quarterly results but a stock in need of a boost. Marathon (MRO) and Starbucks (SBUX) are also expected to post strong earnings growth this week, but both stocks are riding high.

Analyst Upgrades

• Oppenheimer upgraded Teva (TEVA) to outperform from perform. The firm expects the company to generate strong 2H10 earnings and thinks the competition created by Novartis's (NVS) Gilenia will be limited.
• Citigroup upgraded Celanese (CE) to buy from hold, citing valuation and the company's move to add assets in China, as well as possible takeover interest.
• Needham raised Stereotaxis (STXS) to buy from hold as the firm thinks that strong clinical data recently announced by the company could result in faster adoption rates of its robotic surgery.
• BMO Capital upgraded Smurfit-Stone Container (SSCC) given strength in the containerboard market.
• Melco Crown (MPEL) was upgraded to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Goldman Sachs raised Temple-Inland (TIN) to buy from neutral.
• Barclays upgraded Lloyds Banking (LYG) to equal weight from underweight.

"Investing in conservative stocks to build or rebuild the core of your portfolio makes sense right now; investors should buy companies that have a long history of steady earnings and dividend growth, through good times and tough times," says J. Royden Ward.

The editor of the specialty newsletter, Cabot Benjamin Graham Value Letter, explains, "The obvious benefit of adhering to a disciplined system of value investing like ours is that you build long-term profits and, ideally, financial independence.

Analyst Upgrades

• Berstein upgraded Diamond Offshore (DO) to market perform from underperform based on valuation. The firm has a $69 price target on the stock.
• Jefferies upgraded Patterson-UTI Energy (PTEN) to buy from hold, citing leverage to higher land rig pricing. The firm raised its price target to $21 from $17.
• Wunderlich upgraded Renasant (RNST) to buy from hold following the company's acquisition of Crescent Bank. The firm raised its target for shares to $20 from $15.
• AT&T (T) was upgraded to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Blackstone (BX) was upgraded to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Scripps Networks (SNI) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.

"With a sprawling portfolio of 409 different remedies, Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA) is easily the world's largest generic drug maker -- and unless people suddenly stop getting sick, Teva is one of the surest picks around for long-term investors," says Nathan Slaughter.

The editor of Street Authority Market Advisor explains, "Teva is more than double the size of its closest rival in terms of both product breadth and market share.

"But even for a company of Teva's size, product No. 410 is a biggie. The firm recently introduced Venlafaxine, a generic version of Pfizer's anti-depressant Effexor.

Tuesday morning, drugmaker Mylan (MYL) announced that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted regulatory approval for a generic version of Arimidex, which is produced by AstraZeneca (AZN).

Reportedly, the FDA approved 1-milligram tablets of anastrozole, which is the active ingredient in AstraZeneca's Arimidex. Anastrozole is used to treat some breast cancer in postmenopausal women. This news follows Tueday's approval of a generic version of Arimidex that is produced by Teva Pharmaceutical (TEVA).

"Given the stock market setback, the time to buy has come. So what is a global investor to do now? Where in the world do we go?" asks Vivian Lewis.

The editor of Global Investing reviews five global investment ideas: Mexico's Cemex (CX), Canada's Cameco (CCJ), Greece's Coca Cola Hellenic (CCH), Israel's Teva Pharmaceutcial (TEVA), and India's ICICI Bank (IBN).

"I think this May correction has been the result of insane blind total panic in the wake of the still unexplained flash crash. Logically nothing explains the sell-off -- nada, nichevo, nichts, rien. To imagine that Greece is going to pull down Britain, Germany and France is simply ridiculous.